"for artistic achievement and received the Pribina Cross from the Slovak government, a special award given to those who have aided in the economic, social or cultural development of Slovakia. His next feature was ""Post Coitum"" (2004), a comedy about love starring Franco Nero. 2008 saw the release of ""Bathory"", starring Anna Friel as Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-17th century Hungarian countess, often claimed to be one of history's most prolific mass murderers. She was reputed to have bathed in the blood of young Slovak women. Famke Janssen was originally cast in the title role. In addition to being Jakubisko's first"
"Elizabeth Báthory Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (, ; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the noble family of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary, Slovakia and Romania). She has been labeled by ""Guinness World Records"" as the most prolific female murderer, though the precise number of her victims is debated. Báthory and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1609. The highest number of victims cited during Báthory's trial was 650. However, this number comes from"
"Countesse Elizabeth Bathory (die Blutgrafin) aka the Blood Countess is a wicked woman that lives in a castle in Hungary. It is rumoured that she bathes in the blood of young virgins in order to stay youthful. Ildikó is the current Slayer, who lives isolated with her Watcher. He trains her in the ways of a lady and she successfully infiltrates the castle, in an effort to stop the deaths that are seemingly always occurring there. Though she finds out how she kills the girls, she is eventually drugged and killed by Elizabeth Bathory, never finding out if she was"
"scene, the peasants curse her as ""devil woman"" and ""Countess Dracula"". ""Countess Dracula"" was based on Hungarian Countess Erzsebet Báthory (1560-1614), who was responsible for the deaths of allegedly 600 girls and young women, all of which involved torture and gruesome methods of killing. Allmovie has retrospectively called the film ""one of the more underrated films from the latter days of the Hammer Films dynasty."" ""The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films"", on the other hand, wrote that the film's ""distinctly anemic blood-lettings fail to lift a rather tiresome tale of court intrigue."" ""New York Times"" film critic"
"bathing in the blood of virgin girls can help her to reach eternal youth and beauty, a belief reinforced by her sycophantic servants who insist her skin is suddenly much smoother. To this end, her staff capture and brutally kill peasant girls to obtain their blood. It is only when Erzsébet starts to kidnap aristocratic girls that the authorities begin an investigation. Count Thurzó is asked to investigate the incidents and he thus sends István, now a count himself, to visit Erzsébet. István reluctantly goes to visit her, and they spend a passionate night together. István, despite his affections for"
"(court officials Benedek Deseő and Jakab Szilvássy) actually saw the Countess torture and kill young servant girls. According to the testimony of the defendants, Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed her victims not only at Čachtice but also on her properties in Sárvár, Németkeresztúr, Bratislava (Pozsony in Hungarian), and Vienna, and elsewhere. In addition to the defendants, several people were named for supplying Elizabeth Báthory with young women, procured either by deception or by force. Torture and bloody orgies were supposedly carried out to accompany family celebrations, including her daughter's wedding, and holidays. It was said that Thurzó went to Čachtice"
"with a Christian volunteer. Sister Sara arrived during the raid, and identified herself as the director of the house. She was immediately arrested and taken with the other women to the banks of the Danube, where they were all stripped and shot, and their bodies then thrown into the river. Hers was never recovered. On September 17, 2006, with the authorization of Pope Benedict XVI, she was beatified as a martyr in Budapest by the Cardinal Primate of Hungary. She is the first Hungarian who was not a member of the Hungarian royal family to be honored by the Catholic"
"pleasure is considered a far more plausible motive for Elizabeth Báthory's crimes. The legend nonetheless persisted in the popular imagination, perhaps in part because of Báthory's connection to Transylvania and vampire lore. Some versions of the story were told with the purpose of denouncing female vanity, while other versions aimed to entertain or thrill their audience. The 2006 slasher film ""Stay Alive"" features the Countess as the antagonist of the film. The Swedish black metal band, Bathory is named after her. Elizabeth Báthory Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (, ; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian"
"Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova (; , Ивано́ва; March 22, 1730 – December 27, 1801), commonly known as Saltychikha (), was a Russian noblewoman, sadist, and serial killer from Moscow, who became notorious for torturing and killing more than one hundred of her serfs, mostly women and girls. Saltykova has been compared to the earlier Hungarian ""Blood Countess"", Elizabeth Báthory, who committed similar crimes in her castle against servant girls and local serfs. Darya Nikolayevna was born to the Russian nobles Nikolai Avtonomovich Ivanov and Anna Ivanovna Davydova. Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova married the noble Gleb Alexeyevich Saltykov, uncle of"
"in the more common legends. It is even more unlikely that it could be Saint Elisabeth of Hungary (1207–1231), who is additionally too early and not a queen. The only plausible Queen Isabella (late 13th century) likewise seems to be too early to be a strong candidate, as the invention of this water is most probably related to the Black Death epidemic that ravaged Europe between 1346 and 1350. According to legends, Hungary water first appeared outside of Hungary in 1370 when Charles V of France, who was famous for his love of fragrances, received some. Its use was popular"
"her relatives in the Donskoy Monastery necropolis. Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova (; , Ивано́ва; March 22, 1730 – December 27, 1801), commonly known as Saltychikha (), was a Russian noblewoman, sadist, and serial killer from Moscow, who became notorious for torturing and killing more than one hundred of her serfs, mostly women and girls. Saltykova has been compared to the earlier Hungarian ""Blood Countess"", Elizabeth Báthory, who committed similar crimes in her castle against servant girls and local serfs. Darya Nikolayevna was born to the Russian nobles Nikolai Avtonomovich Ivanov and Anna Ivanovna Davydova. Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova married"
"into a wooden casket that was hung up in the Perlachturm, and they starved to death. After confessing in an Inquisition Court to an alleged conspiracy involving lepers, the Jewry, the King of Granada and the Sultan of Babylon, Guillaume Agassa, head of the leper asylum at Lestang, was condemned in 1322 to be immured in shackles for life. Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (""Báthory Erzsébet"" in Hungarian; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was immured in a set of rooms in 1610 for the death of several girls, with figures being as high as several hundred, though"
"the actual number of victims is uncertain. Being labeled the most prolific female serial killer in history has earned her the nickname of the ""Blood Countess"", and she is often compared with Vlad III the Impaler of Wallachia in folklore. She was allowed to live in immurement until she died, four years after being sealed, ultimately dying of causes other than starvation; evidently her rooms were well supplied with food. In the late 1650s, various sons of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan became embroiled in wars of succession, in which Aurangzeb was victorious. One of his half-brothers, Shah Shujah proved"
"the cruel countess would discover the secret of blood bathing when she slapped a female servant in rage, splashing parts of her own skin with blood. Upon removal of the blood, that portion of skin would seem younger and more beautiful than before. This legend appeared in print for the first time in 1729, in the Jesuit scholar László Turóczi's ""Tragica Historia"", the first written account of the Báthory case. When quoting him in his 1742 history book, Matthias Bel was sceptical about this particular detail, he nevertheless helped the legend to spread. Subsequent writers of history and fiction alike"
"no evidence to support this theory. Nicknames and literary epithets attributed to her include ""The Blood Countess"" and ""Countess Dracula"". Elizabeth Báthory was born on a family estate in Nyírbátor, Kingdom of Hungary, in 1560 or 1561, and spent her childhood at Ecsed Castle. Her father was Baron George VI Báthory of the Ecsed branch of the family, brother of Andrew Bonaventura Báthory, who had been voivode of Transylvania, while her mother was Baroness Anna Báthory (1539–1570), daughter of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó, another voivode of Transylvania, who was of the Somlyó branch. Through her mother, Elizabeth was the niece"
"Blood Countess buried in their cemetery, her body was moved to her birth home at Ecsed, where it was interred at the Báthory family crypt. The location of her body today is unknown. Čachtice church or Čachtice castle do not bear any markings of her possible grave. Several authors such as László Nagy and Dr. Irma Szádeczky-Kardoss have argued that Elizabeth Báthory was a victim of a conspiracy. Nagy argued that the proceedings against Báthory were largely politically motivated, possibly due to her extensive wealth and ownership of large areas of land in Hungary, escalating after the death of her"
"300 witnesses and the physical evidence collected by the investigators have to be addressed or disputed. That evidence included numerous bodies and dead and dying girls found when the castle was entered by Thurzó. Szádeczky-Kardoss argues the physical evidence was exaggerated and Thurzó misrepresented dead and wounded patients as victims of Báthory, as disgracing her would greatly benefit his political state ambitions. The case of Elizabeth Báthory inspired numerous stories during the 18th and 19th centuries. The most common motif of these works was that of the countess bathing in her victims' blood to retain beauty or youth. This legend"
"Elizabeth Bathory enjoying the torture of some young women: in an inner courtyard of one of her castles, naked girls are being drenched with water and allowed to freeze to death in the snow. The original painting was destroyed in World War II. István Csók István Csók (February 13, 1865, Sáregres – February 1, 1961) was a Hungarian Impressionist painter. Csok lived and exhibited in Paris for a portion of his life. He became most famous in Hungary for his nudes, portraits, and landscapes of the Lake Balaton. Csok had many international exhibitions in such cities as Rome, San Francisco,"
"other body parts, freezing or starving to death. The use of needles was also mentioned by the collaborators in court. There were many suspected forms of torture carried out by Elizabeth. According to the Budapest City Archives, the girls were burned with hot tongs and then placed in freezing cold water. They were also covered in honey and live ants. Elizabeth is also suspected of cannibalism. Some witnesses named relatives who died while at the gynaeceum. Others reported having seen traces of torture on dead bodies, some of which were buried in graveyards, and others in unmarked locations. Two witnesses"
"the claim by a serving girl named Susannah that Jakab Szilvássy, Countess Báthory's court official, had seen the figure in one of Báthory's private books. The book was never revealed, and Szilvássy never mentioned it in his testimony. Despite the evidence against Elizabeth, her family's influence kept her from facing trial. She was imprisoned in December 1610 within Čachtice Castle, in Upper Hungary (now Slovakia), and held in solitary confinement in a windowless room until her death four years later. The stories of her serial murders and brutality are verified by the testimony of more than 300 witnesses and survivors"
"sisters arranged baptisms in the hope it would spare people from deportation, sent food and supplies to the Jewish ghettos, and sheltered people in their convents. One of the sisters, Bl. Sára Salkaházi, was among those captured sheltering the Jews, and executed. Slachta herself was beaten and only narrowly avoided execution. The sisters are credited with rescuing at least 1000 Hungarian Jews. In his study of the rescuers of the Jews, Martin Gilbert recounts that the monks of the Champagnat Institute of the Order of Mary in Budapest took in 100 children and 50 parents as boarders. Discovered, the Jews"
"problems would be solved; God did not like the people, and thus they were being punished. A fear arose in the Habsburg empire that witches had begun to be organized like military units. A particular fear in Hungary was that witches were also vampires. Among the people accused was the former judge and richest citizen of the town, 82-year-old Dániel Rózsa, said to be the leader of the witches, and Anna Nagy Kökényné, a midwife who had accused him of witchcraft. On 23 July 1728, 12 people, six men and six women, were burned at the stake for witchcraft on"
"health-care facility, or at different locations within the same city or state. A notable exception to the typical characteristics of female serial killers is Aileen Wuornos, who killed outdoors instead of at home, used a gun instead of poison, killed strangers instead of friends or family, and killed for personal gratification. The most prolific female serial killer in all of history is allegedly Elizabeth Báthory. Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian, August 7, 1560 – August 21, 1614) was a countess from the renowned Báthory family. Before her husband's death, Elizabeth took great pleasure in torturing the"
"the circumstances of the victim's death. The late-16th-century Hungarian countess and mass murderer Elizabeth Báthory became particularly infamous in later centuries' works, which depicted her bathing in her victims' blood in order to retain beauty or youth. ""Vampire lifestyle"" is a term for a contemporary subculture of people, largely within the Goth subculture, who consume the blood of others as a pastime; drawing from the rich recent history of popular culture related to cult symbolism, horror films, the fiction of Anne Rice, and the styles of Victorian England. Active vampirism within the vampire subculture includes both blood-related vampirism, commonly referred"
"Two trials were held in the wake of Báthory's arrest; the first was held on January 2, 1611 and the second on January 7, 1611. Dozens of witnesses and survivors, sometimes up to 35 a day, testified. All but one of the countess's servants testified against her. In addition to the testimony, the court also examined the skeletons and cadaver parts found as evidence. The exact number of Elizabeth Báthory's victims is unknown, and even contemporary estimates differ greatly. During the trial, Dorottya Szentes and Ficko reported 36 and 37 victims respectively, during their periods of service. The other defendants,"
"he had six unnamed daughters and a son, Imre Thurzó. Thurzó is perhaps best remembered for being the judge of mass murderer and Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory. He was also a very passionate Lutheran. He built Lutheran churches in his lands. He paid for the construction of Lutheran guilds in his estates. In 1610, he issued a decree: ""Cuius regio, eius religio"". In 1609, he was bestowed with the title of, ""Palatine of Hungary."" Until his death, he remained loyal to the Habsburg emperor. He died in 1616, in his estate in Nagybiccse. György Thurzó György Thurzó (, 2 September"
"before 9 April 1428. In 1435, the Hungarian Diet began a process against Hedwig, who was accused of poisoning her husband, feared that he could discover her affair with one of his relatives, Nicholas Szécsényi. In addition, during the process she was accused of incitement to prostitution in the person of her daughter Catherine. The testimony of members of the Garai family, who belonged to the Hungarian elite, where enough evidence for King Sigismund, who dictated a harsh punishment against Hedwig: all her property was confiscated, and she was imprisoned for life in the castle of her husband's family. She"
"to commit crimes freely in their castle. Even more advantaged by Ferenc's mysterious death, was Emperor Matthias II, who sought to acquire the extensive territories produced by the Báthory-Nádasdy marriage. After the death of Elizabeth, the diminished possessions of her estate were divided among her four children. Later, Emperor Matthias accused the Báthory-Nádasdy children of treason based on the crimes committed by their mother. All land formerly belonging to the Nádasdy family in addition to the new lands that had been accumulated from their political family, became available to the Hungarian crown. The descendants of Ferenc and Elizabeth were banished"
"Hungary for a new campaign against Halych, a group of Hungarian lords, taking advantage of the King's absence, captured and murdered Queen Gertrude and many of her courtiers in the Pilis Hills on 28 September 1213. Gertrude's body was torn to pieces, while her brother Berthold, the Archbishop of Kalocsa and Leopold VI, Duke of Austria narrowly escaped with their lives. Gertrude was buried in the Pilis Abbey. According to the contemporary reports, Peter personally slaughtered the Queen, while Palatine Bánk Bár-Kalán, the Kacsics brothers (Simon and Michael) and other lords were also involved in the conspiracy. The motivation of"
"Szeged witch trials The Szeged witch trials, which took place in the city of Szeged in Hungary in 1728–1729, was perhaps the largest witch-hunt in Hungary. It led to the death of 14 people by burning, although witch trials had been banned by the decree of King Coloman in 1100. The witch trial was instigated by the authorities, which decided on this measure to remove the problem of the public complaints about the drought and its consequences of famine and epidemics by laying the responsibility on people among them, which had fraternized with the Devil. If they were killed, the"
"virginity. The historicity of these early saints cannot be established, the dates given are from hagiographical tradition. Post-Nicean Virgin martyrs: The first known formal consecration is that of Saint Marcellina, dated AD 353, mentioned in ""De Virginibus"" by her brother, Saint Ambrose. Another early consecrated virgin is Saint Genevieve (c. 422 – c. 512). Saint Margaret of Hungary (1242–1270) is noted as a nun and virgin, as she received a separate consecration as a virgin in spite of already having taken monastic vows; this was done in order to dissuade her father, king Béla IV of Hungary, from trying to"
"Zoltán Szabó (serial killer) Zoltán Szabó (1968 – December 5, 2016 in Szeged), known as the Balástya Monster, was a Hungarian serial killer who killed women for monetary purposes. He was convicted of killing four people out of his 5 confirmed murders, but could possibly have upwards of 6 victims. Szabó was born into a farmer's family in 1968, and had lived on a farm since his youth. He studied until the eight grade in elementary school, refusing to study any more. His father died early, and his brother who lived on the farm committed suicide. He had a violent"
"was in fact closely associated with three Cistercian abbeys located near Pontigny and the surrounding estates belonged to the Donzy family, from which Anna descended. During her marriage, Anna gave birth to at least six children: Anna was the ancestress of all subsequent Kings of Hungary, as well as the Hungarian princesses, and by marriage of the Piast Duchesses St. Kinga and Bl. Jolenta of Poland. In addition, from her descended the Kings of Bohemia from the Přemyslid, Luxembourg, Habsburg, Jagiellon and Vasa families. Anna's death date was not recorded in any contemporary source, but it is assumed that she"